Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Relay

Re·lay′ (r?-l?′), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Relaid (-l?d); p. pr. & vb. n. Relaying.] [Pref. re- + lay, v.] To lay again; to lay a second time; as, to relay a pavement.

Re·lay′ (r?-l?′), n. [F. relais (cf. OF. relais relaxation, discontinuance, It. rilascio release, relief, rilasso relay), fr. OF. relaissier to abandon, release, fr. L. relaxare. See Relax.] 1. A supply of anything arranged beforehand for affording relief from time to time, or at successive stages; provision for successive relief. Specifically: (a) A supply of horses placced at stations to be in readiness to relieve others, so that a trveler may proceed without delay. (b) A supply of hunting dogs or horses kept in readiness at certain places to relive the tired dogs or horses, and to continue the pursuit of the game if it comes that way. (c) A number of men who relieve others in carrying on some work.

2. (Elec.) In various forms of telegraphic apparatus, a magnet which receives the circuit current, and is caused by it to bring into into action the power of a local battery for performing the work of making the record; also, a similar device by which the current in one circuit is made to open or close another circuit in which a current is passing.

Relay battery (Elec.), the local battery which is brought into use by the action of the relay magnet, or relay.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.